India’s education chief resigns
NEW DELHI—India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on Saturday after mass youth-led protests demanded his ouster in anger over a string of irregularities in potentially life-changing exams.
“I have sent my resignation letter to the prime minister,” Pradhan said in a statement posted on social media platform X.
The social media-driven Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) spearheaded student protests that broke out in response to exam paper leaks, and is seeking systemic reforms in the education system.
Demonstrations at the Jantar Mantar protest site in the center of New Delhi intensified during the week and began spreading to other parts of the country.
Police fired tear gas and charged with batons at protesters as they tried to march to parliament this week.
Protesters celebrate
The government held two rounds of talks with CJP leaders on Monday and Friday but little headway was made, with the youth-led movement sticking to their demands ahead of another proposed meeting on Saturday.
Pradhan announced his resignation before that much-anticipated third round of talks.
“I am pained to see the events of the past 10 days. This is not a matter of personal prestige for me,” he said in his letter in Hindi.
“India’s youth power is the real strength of this nation. My resolve is that we will not let the country’s youth get trapped in a vicious cycle of confusion.”
Protesters erupted in joy after Pradhan’s announcement.
“We have done it,” CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said to a thunderous response by hundreds of protesters.
Broader protest
The movement has evolved to include concerns over unemployment, opportunities for young people and what critics brand as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s increasingly authoritarian style of governance.
The protests became one of the biggest challenges to Hindu nationalist Modi’s administration since his 2024 re-election.
The protesters’ other demands include compensation for those affected by examination irregularities and for legal cases against protesters to be dropped, according to CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka.
Pradhan’s resignation marks the first significant concession by Modi’s government to one of the most visible waves of public dissent it has faced in recent years.
The government has rarely yielded to sustained public pressure during Modi’s more than 12 years in office. The most notable exception came in 2021, when it was forced to withdraw controversial farm laws after a yearlong farmers’ protest.
The “Cockroach’” movement began more than a month ago after allegations of leaks in some of India’s biggest entrance exams. It started as a call for education reforms but has grown into a broader protest over unemployment, government accountability and economic opportunities. —WITH REPORTS FROM AFP, AP
